Yummy Treats

Last night, at my church, we had a Ladies Night Out. It was absolutely wonderful. First of all, walking out the door without kids was so sweet. Then, I got to spend the evening worshiping and learning about my Savior while getting to fellowship and laugh with a bunch of sweet ladies. It was absolutely delightful! We had cookies and coffee to make the night even sweeter. I made Paula Deen's Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies. Oh my word. They are so amazing! It isn't very often that I make cookies using a box mix, but trust me, these are worth it. Then, I made one of my all time favorite cookies...snickerdoodles. And, these snickerdoodles, are just the perfect texture. You really should try these. You will not be sorry!

Snickerdoodles:
2 3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar, plus 3 tablespoons
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Whisk (really good...a couple of minutes) the flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.

Beat together the shortening and butter. Add sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the flour mixture and blend until smooth.

Mix the 3 tablespoons sugar with the cinnamon in bowl. Roll the dough, by hand, into 1 1/2-inch balls. Roll the balls in the cinnamon sugar. Place them on an unlined cookie sheet or a baking stone, spacing them evenly. Bake until light brown, but still moist in the center, about 12 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack.


Paula Deen's Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies:

1 (8-ounce) brick cream cheese, room temperature
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (18-ounce) box moist chocolate cake mix (I used betty crocker's double chocolate fudge.)
Confectioners' sugar, for rolling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a mixer, cream the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Beat in the egg. Then beat in the vanilla extract. Beat in the cake mix. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours to firm up so that you can roll the batter into balls (I didn't do this because I didn't have the time and it was fine...just messy). Roll the chilled batter into tablespoon sized balls and then roll them in confectioner's sugar. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake 12 minutes. The cookies will remain soft and "gooey." Cool completely.

Taste Test Tuesday: Chocolate Chip Cookies...Real butter vs. Dairy free margarine

Yesterday, I made two batches of cookies. One batch with real butter and one batch with dairy free margarine sticks (I used blue bonnet light). I've made cookies with dairy free margarine sticks before but never actually taste tested them right along side cookies made with real butter. Let me tell you, if you follow the recipes exactly, there is a huge difference. My son, along with some of my friends children, have a dairy allergy. So, I did this just to compare the cookies.

I melt my real butter (and then let it cool to room temperature) before adding it to the sugar when I make cookies. This makes for a cookie that is really chewy. However, after brainstorming for a while about why the dairy free cookies didn't turn out as good, I realized that it has the opposite affect when using dairy free margarine. It actually makes the batter extremely runny, like soup.

All in all, you can definitely make cookies with dairy free margarine and they will taste good (as long as you just use room temperature butter that is not melted). However, cookies made with real butter are no contest the best way to make a scrumptious chocolate chip cookie!!




THE BEST (in my opinion) Chocolate Chip Cookies
3/4 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 whole large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 cups All-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp table salt - can substitute with Fleur de Sel or grey sea salt (this is what I use)
1 cup chocolate chips (You can use up to 2 cups, if desired. I really like just one cup and I used to make all of my cookie recipes with 2 cups.)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
Melt the butter then allow to cool to room temperature (This is a very important step if you are using real butter. If you are using dairy free margarine then skip this step and just let your margarine come to room temperature). Then using a large bowl or in your upright mixer with paddle attachment, cream together the butter and brown and white sugar on high speed. Next add the vanilla extract, egg, egg yolk and beat until smooth (make sure to crack eggs into a separate bowl to make sure there are no shells pieces).

Sift the flour and baking soda together (if you don't have a sifter you can just use a whisk). Then stir in the salt and set aside. Now add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix on low until everything is incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Using stoneware or a greased cookie sheet, form equal size rounds of dough (about 1/4cup of dough). Make sure to leave enough space between each cookie as they will spread out as they bake. Refrigerate for fifteen minutes before baking.

Bake the cookies for 13 to 15 minutes or until the edges turn a light golden color. Once done, cool for a few minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely.

Whatever Wednesday

Hello blog world! Well, today I am starting Whatever Wednesday which is just what it sounds like...whatever. Wednesday is going to be my day to post whatever recipe, tip or thought about food/cooking that I want. Last night, my friend and I made english toffee together. I have to confess that I attempted the same recipe about a month ago and it COMPLETELY bombed! It is Paula Deen's recipe. It looked really simple and I totally thought I had a handle on it. Until...Chris and I were standing over my cookie sheet staring at a sheet of black mess. I totally burnt it. This time, we used a candy thermometer which I highly recommend...hehe. It turned out great! I was very excited. The only thing that went wrong is that I forgot to add the vanilla and the salt. You are supposed to add them after you remove the pan from heat and before pouring onto the cookie sheet. I was way to anxious to remember. Candy is the one thing that completely stresses me out in the kitchen. There is such a small window of time to either get it right or get it totally wrong. Also, I made the dough for some gingerbread cookies that are sandwiched together with orange frosting...yum! Here are the recipes for both:

Paula Deen's English Toffee
Ingredients
14 tablespoons butter (I used 2 sticks)
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cold water
1/2 chopped pecans (I did not put pecans in mine)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Dash salt
1 (6-ounce) bag semisweet chocolate chips or thin chocolate bars

Generously butter a cookie sheet (I lay down a piece of wax/parchment paper and then butter the paper so it is easier to remove from the pan).

Put butter, sugar, and water in a heavy pan or skillet over medium-high heat. Bring to a bubbling boil, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, about 10 minutes. Remove spoon from pan, and cook to a very brittle stage (300 degrees to 310 degrees F on a candy thermometer). Or, make a cold water test: candy will separate into hard, brittle threads when dropped in cold water. Remove from heat and add nuts to mixture. Add vanilla and salt. Pour onto prepared cookie sheet and spread to 1/4-inch thickness. Cool slightly, top with chocolate chips or chocolate bars, and spread as it melts. Cool completely and break into pieces. Store in an airtight container.





Alex Guarnaschelli's Family Gingerbread Cookies
The foundation:
1 1/2 sticks lightly salted butter, softened
1 2/3 cups sugar (I used 1 cup white sugar and 1/3 cup dark brown sugar)
1 orange, zested

The dry ingredients:
4 cups all-purpose flour, plus 1/2 cup additional for rolling
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon ground dry ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

The wet ingredients:
2 eggs
1/2 cup dark molasses
1 lemon, juiced
Easy Orange Frosting, recipe follows

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle, add the butter, sugar and orange zest and beat until smooth, 5 to 8 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, dry ginger, nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, cloves and salt. Whisk to blend. Set aside.
In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, molasses and lemon juice.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
When the butter and sugar are integrated, lower the speed of the mixer and add the dry ingredients. Add the egg mixture and when blended, remove the bowl from the machine. Divide the cookie dough in half. Press the first half of the dough in between 2 sheets of waxed paper or plastic wrap and chill for 15 minutes. Repeat with the second half. This step will make it easier to finish rolling out the dough when it has chilled. It will also mean you only have half of the dough getting warm as you roll it.


Lightly flour a flat surface. Use a floured rolling pin to gently roll the first half of the dough about 1/2-inch thick. Lightly flour the cookie cutter(s) and cut the shapes, making as few scraps as possible. Use a metal spatula to gently transfer them, cookie by cookie, (the cookies should be similar size) to a baking sheet. Repeat with the other half of the dough and transfer them to another baking sheet. A note about crowding the tray(s): these particular cookies can spread a little. Leave room between the cookies. Better to use 3 baking sheets with fewer cookies than to crowd them on 2 trays. Bake until brown around the edges, 8 to 10 minutes.
Got scraps? Form the scraps into a ball, press it flat and chill in the refrigerator. These cookies may be a little more "tough" because the dough will have been worked a little more than the others.


Easy Orange Frosting
1 cup powdered sugar
Finely grated zest of 1 orange
1 to 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
1/2 teaspoon orange liqueur (I used 1/2 tsp of orange extract since I didn't have the liqueur)
1/4 teaspoon light corn syrup
In a medium
bowl add all of the ingredients and whisk together to combine. If too thick in consistency, add a touch more orange juice or water to thin out.

Use a pastry bag fitted with a star tip to pipe the frosting between 2 of the gingerbread cookies. Press the 2 cookies halves gently together.

Ginger Brown Sugar Cookies

These cookies were submitted to the cookie swap by my dear friend, Tori. I spent many mornings waking up to a cup of tea and a couple of these cookies. Thanks, Tori! Warning: Do not eat the crystallized ginger by itself : )!

1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger
2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Heat oven to 375 F. In large bowl, beat brown sugar, butter, vanilla and egg with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon. Stir in flour, baking soda and gingers.
Shape dough by rounded teaspoonfuls into 1-inch balls. On greased cookie sheet, place balls about 2 inches apart. Flatten to 1/2 inch thickness with greased bottom of glass dipped in 2 tablespoons granulated sugar.
Bake 8-10 minutes or until edges are set. Remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack; cool.

To swap or not to swap...

I would NOT swap these cookies! Not because they aren't good but because they are SO good. I would keep these all to myself. I organized my first cookie swap a few weeks ago. It was a lot of fun! We are planning to have another one in February. You should really try these cookies. You will not be sorry.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups unsalted butter
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups finely ground almonds (put in food processor or chopper)
4 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar for rolling

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Cream butter or margarine in a bowl, gradually add confectioners' sugar and salt. Beat until light and fluffy. Add almonds and vanilla. Blend in flour gradually and mix well.
Shape into balls (or crescents) using about 1 teaspoon for each cookie. Place on ungreased cookie sheets, and bake for 15-20 min. Do not brown. Cool slightly, then roll in the extra confectioners' sugar.